Organised by Clarion Technical Conferences and Tiratsoo Technical (a division of Great Southern Press), the Pipeline Pigging and Integrity Management (PPIM) Conference and Exhibition was held from 14–17 February 2011 at the Marriot Westchase, Houston, Texas, USA.

PPIM is the only event in the world tailored specifically to the pigging industry. The event’s unique structure of training programmes, a detailed two-day Conference programme, and an Exhibition, allows the whole pigging industry to gather in the one place. Attendees have many opportunities to talk one-on-one with pigging manufacturers and suppliers, pipeline operation and integrity management experts, and other related service providers.

With the support of Platinum Sponsor Rosen, Gold Sponsors AGR Field Services and Enduro, and Silver Sponsors A.Hak and EMS, the event attracted a large number of delegates and trade visitors.

Following two days of pipeline training courses covering seven different topics, the Conference and Exhibition officially commenced with an Exhibition Opening Reception on Tuesday night, sponsored by Silver Sponsor AGR Field Services.

Talking pigs

PPIM delegates packed out the Marriot Grand Ballroom on Wednesday morning, eager to hear the first papers on the Conference programme.

Clarion’s BJ Lowe welcomed everyone to the Conference, thanking the delegates for their continuous support, which has seen PPIM enter its 23rd year.

Papers for the day covered a range of topics including new technologies, case studies, management systems, and integrity assessment programmes.

Brett Wakeham from TransCanada presented a case study of chemical cleaning for a large-diameter pipeline in Alberta, Canada. He explained that data collected from an initial ILI tool run was degraded and, for some portions of the pipeline, unusable, leading to the decision to organise a cleaning programme.

Mr Wakeham outlined the nature of the cleaning programme prior to the chemical programme being considered, and the driving factors that resulted in the decision to proceed with the successful chemical programme.

Andrew Pulsifer from CenterPoint Energy outlined speed-control pigging of large-diameter, high-volume pipelines. He said that maintaining optimal speed of a cleaning pig is difficult in high-flow conditions, however the recent application of a speed-controlled pig using a combination of fixed and variable bypass has allowed mechanical pipeline cleaning to continue without reducing gas volume or negatively impacting transportation revenues.

Bernd Selig of Process Performance Improvement Consultants spoke about measuring the effectiveness of the US Integrity Management Programme (IMP). Among his conclusions, Mr Selig highlighted the fact that the total number of incidents per year has not gone down over the recent six-year period he has analysed. He pointed out that the number of incidents in high-consequence areas (HCAs) is nevertheless very small, although the incident causes are not sufficiently impacted by IMP activities. More than 50 per cent of the incidents in HCAs were due to third-party damage and weather, while the corrosion leak category shows a steady downward trend in HCAs. Mr Selig thought that this may be directly attributable to the IMP, which requires corrosion assessments for all HCAs by the end of 2012. He went on to say that perhaps the most effective near-term measure of the validity of the IMP is that the repair rate for reassessed HCAs decreased by 78 per cent.

Luc Huyse from Chevron outlined the effects of ILI sizing uncertainties on the accuracy of the largest features and corrosion rate statistics. He highlighted some of the effects of the sizing uncertainties and the resulting biases that occur in corrosion-rate and, thus, reliability-prediction calculations.

Mr Huyse said that these assessments are used to determine the most appropriate course of action: repair, replacement, or time of next inspection. This assessment is particularly helpful with regard to subsea pipelines, as the opportunity to repair individual defects is often limited due to practical constraints and there is merit in an approach that focuses on entire spools or pipeline segments.

Unparalleled opportunities at the Exhibition

Featuring all of the latest pipeline inspection, rehabilitation and maintenance equipment, including cleaning and calliper pigs, in-line inspection tools, brushes, NDT, and more, the Exhibition allowed delegates and trade visitors one-on-one contact with pipeline pigging and inspection equipment manufacturers and suppliers.

Attendees were able to expand their business network by speaking first hand with company representatives who could provide tailored advice to specific queries.

Exhibiting companies included AGR Field Services, A.Hak, Allan Edwards, Applus RTD, CDI, Clock Spring, EMS, Enduro, GE Oil & Gas/PII Solutions, Girard Industries, Mears Group, NDT, Quest Integrity Group, Rosen, STATS Group and TD Williamson.

In addition to opportunities to visit stands throughout the day, a reception was held in the Exhibition area on Wednesday night, sponsored by Platinum Sponsor Rosen.

Next year

Planning is already underway for the 24th annual PPIM Conference and Exhibition, which will once again be held at the Marriot Westchase in Houston, from 6–9 February 2012.

Companies are already signing-up for exhibition space, eager to be present for the event that draws together pigging and integrity management specialists to discuss the latest trends and developments for the industry.

Make sure you don’t miss the once-a-year chance to meet with all the major pigging, in-line inspection and integrity management service providers in one place.

Contact BJ Lowe of Clarion to secure your place: bjlowe@clarion.org